Discipline part 2 (Structure)

Hello,

                Wintermute here and this is Dumbr. Yesterday we started our new segment Discipline. We will continue today with more tips on how to keep your class in check.

Point Cards: Back to structure and repetition, in my class I set up these point cards, good students received a card, bad students lost cards, the kid with the most cards at the end of month got a prize. This worked wonders, all I had to do was threaten losing a card and a child would start bawling and begging for forgiveness. I won’t lie the power  is a little overwhelming, and with great power comes great responsibility, you have to understand that these cards mean the world to these kids, so don’t pass them out lightly, and don’t take them away for every offense. But have a system in place, (if you do A, you lose 1 card), stick with it, they will learn.

Line up: Koreans love to have every student go at the same time for everything (line up, getting bags/coats, washing hands); they seem to think it’s faster. They couldn’t be further from the truth. What happens when 20 little kids try to bum rush a line up, they start to push, hit, cut in line, etc etc. Instead, make a line leader for the day, and then call each student out one at a time to line up behind the other, no fights, no fuss, and no mess. Plus it allows you to make sure each student cleaned up their area, and pushed in their chair.

Teams: Embrace the power of teams.  I was lucky, our desk were color coded, I had two desk for each color, I put those desk next to each other, students sitting at those desk became a member of the subsequent team color. You may not have that option, but form teams somehow. This is amazing and you won’t understand until you see it in action. Kids will try so hard to do well for their team, and it will make them more competitive. Just keep a simple tally on the board of points for whose doing best, the team with the most points at the end of the day gets cards, easy. They really will pay more attention in class and try much harder, and you can use it in other ways. Say something like the team that cleans up first and sits down gets points. The best team in gym will get points. So on and so forth.

Thank you for being here and for your continued support. Be sure to come back tomorrow for more tips on how to keep your students in check.

Your Teacher,

Wintermute